Share this:

Get More:

(CPJ/IFEX) - New York, November 16, 2011 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by reports that two newspaper employees in Mexico have been missing since Monday and that in their last communication, the men said they were being followed by police cars.

Osvaldo García Íñiguez, a regional circulation manager for the daily business newspaper El Financiero, along with his driver, José de Jesús Ortiz Parra, disappeared from the central Mexican state of Zacatecas on Monday, according to news reports. The next day, Rogelio Cardenas, deputy editor of the paper, reported on Twitter that in the men's last communication, they said they were being followed by two police cars and included the patrol car numbers.

El Financiero reported yesterday that the men were driving in a vehicle that clearly bore the newspaper's logo and were on their way to the city of Guadalajara in Jalisco state. Weekly magazine Proceso reported that an unnamed source close to the Zacatecas state prosecutor's office identified the police cars as belonging to federal police forces based in the state.

"We call on the Mexican federal authorities to find Osvaldo García Íñiguez and José de Jesús Ortiz Parra and bring them to safety," said Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior coordinator for the Americas. "The Attorney General's Office must ensure that all leads are investigated, including reports that implicate the police, and that the responsible parties are prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Zacatecas state authorities said in a statement that state and federal police were carrying out a joint search for the two men and their vehicle, but did not mention the reports of police cars allegedly following the men. Neither the newspaper's management nor state officials have commented on possible motives for the disappearance.

El Financiero wrote that it was stopping circulation of the newspaper in the state of Zacatecas "until corresponding authorities guarantee security on state highways." Until then, the daily said it would only be available online.

Two Mexican journalists have been reported missing this year. Marco Antonio López Ortiz, the news editor for Novedades Acapulco, went missing on June 7. Witnesses said they saw men assault and abduct him as he crossed a street. Manuel Gabriel Fonseca Hernández disappeared on September 17 and was last seen leaving his house to cover a story for daily El Mañanero, for which he covered the crime beat. Drug-related violence now makes Mexico one of the world's most dangerous countries for the press, CPJ research shows.

Political intolerance, activities of fundamentalists and drug trafficking groups, government impunity, and the continued existence and application of repressive speech laws, continue to limit FoE rights in many countries of the region.

The year under review has been the darkest for press freedom for several decades, with the media coming under relentless assault from several directions. There have been attacks on journalists, sackings and personnel changes affecting critical personalities and the withdrawal of advertising, which places pressure on the editorial integrity of publications.

This report documents 45 cases from Caracas and three states, involving more than 150 victims, in which security forces have abused the rights of protesters and other people in the vicinity of demonstrations.

Journalism in South Asia is far from an easy profession, as the 12th annual review of journalism in the region "The Campaign for Justice: Press Freedom in South Asia 2013-14" portrays. But this year's report also tells the story of the courage of South Asia's journalists to defend press freedom and to ensure citizens' right to information and freedom of expression in the face of increasing challenges to the profession and personal safety.

RWB report is being published ahead of the presidential election scheduled for 5 April. It is the fruit of a fact-finding visit to the northern provinces of Parwan, Kapisa and Panjshir in September 2013

This factsheet provides an overview of the recent rubbish collectors’ protests and subsequent negotiations with garbage collection company CINTRI. The strike for an increased minimum wage and improved working conditions went ahead in spite of the current ban on all demonstrations, assemblies and marches, and remained peaceful, despite heavy military police presence

Russia is the sixth deadliest country in the world for journalists in the last 16 years. Moreover, as impunity for attacks on journalists in Russia remains the general rule and the vast majority of cases remain unsolved, the true tally could be even higher.

The report examines the growing perils of journalism in Syria, analyzing the evolution in the dangers and identifying the origins of the threats and difficulties that Syrian and foreign news provider have encountered during the 32 months of the conflict.

Take Action!

From a journalist following in the footsteps of her idols at Harvard, to an activist fighting for a world where children are free to express themselves, the Media Institute of Southern Africa introduces you to 9 women who are "making it happen."

IFEX publishes free expression news and reports from around the globe. Some member content has been edited by IFEX. Permission is granted for material on this website to be reproduced or republished in whole or in part provided the source member and/or IFEX is cited with a link to the original item.